


Forward to the Past

by hxshigaki76



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Funny, Time Travel, a bit of angst later on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2016-09-06
Packaged: 2018-06-08 08:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6847510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hxshigaki76/pseuds/hxshigaki76
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Boruto convinced Sarada to let him perform a time travel technique, he did not expect it to work. But much to their displeasure, they found themselves thrown back about 60 years back in time, dragging along them their teammate and two of the Legendary Sannin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. We're Chūnin Now!

She knew it was a huge mistake to do it.

They picked up the scroll lost on the old training grounds and promised to report it to Lord Seventh the following day.  
But that damned Boruto made her curious, so they waited until Mitsuki fell asleep to try out the jutsu written in the scroll. The boy with golden eyes could be such a killjoy sometimes; Boruto knew he would stop them right away.  
They were staying over at Mitsuki because they were celebrating their promotion to chuunin and because his father was only going to show up late. Sarada wasn’t particularly fond of Orochimaru, but she knew he wouldn’t try anything. Boruto was completely clueless regarding the male Sannin.

“For someone as sharp as him, he let his guard down by falling asleep so fast without giving us a warning about the scroll,” remarked Boruto.  
“That’s because he trusts us. And besides, it’s a bad idea! Who knows what could happen?”  
“Sarada. We found this on the ground and it says time travel. It sounds a bit _fake,_ don’t you think? Might as well try out.”  
She had no objection to that. Silently, they walked to get the scroll from Mitsuki’s purse. After that they carefully opened it. Not bothering to read the instructions very well, Boruto performed the hand seals quickly. The two of them closed their eyes, expecting something apocalyptical to happen. But one minute later, they were still in their teammate’s apartment, and everything was untouched.  
“Told ya, Sarada.”

But next morning, Boruto seemed to be wrong about the scroll.  
The jutsu worked very well, in fact.  
And that really wasn’t what they have planned.

When Sarada woke up, she found herself under a tree by a lake. When she became aware of her surroundings and missing teammates, the girl wanted to scream. She was technically caught off guard and couldn’t make sense of anything, until she remembered about what happened the night before.  
_Oh, right._  
She wanted to punch herself in the face. No matter how much she wanted to blame Boruto for everything, she knew it was also her fault.

 

Without wasting any moment, she climbed the tree to hide. Looking around, the 12 year old brunette old could notice that the place quite resembled Konoha, except that everything looked more… rural.  Desperately, looking for any other sort of clues, something very important caught her attention; the people walking by. What she saw was shocking and unbelievable.  
_Uchiha?  
_ There were not one, or two, but many people wearing the same crest as Sarada. Even more, there was, apparently, a Hokage stone. The fact that four faces missed from there, made the new chuunin terrified.

* * *

 

Before he fell asleep, Boruto was more than convinced that the scroll was indeed, just a fake. It all sounded _pathetic_ and the concept of time travel seemed impossible to him.  
But when he found himself falling from a wall with a flame-like symbol painted on it, his mind changed completely.  
He wanted to call his mom out, but that was obviously not going to work. Where was he, anyway?  
The crest was clearly of the Hyuuga. Boruto made the wise decision to make a run for it and blend among the ordinary villagers.  
He glanced at the Hokage Mountain. When he first stumbled across the scroll, he thought that it could teleport them at most 10 years in the past. But the number of the faces in the mountain stood to differ. Boruto counted them over and over again, but each time he got three.  
“What do I do… These people probably don’t even know what a videogame is!” he whispered to himself, full of panic. He was lost and alone. Was he alone? Did anyone else get caught in the jutsu? The only way to find out was to get started on finding clues.

 

* * *

 

Tsunade was surprised that Orochimaru invited her for dinner after the chuunin exams. Not that she didn’t feel flattered, but she expected him to celebrate with Mitsuki his success.  
And not only that he invited her to dinner, but he was also careful to pick the most expensive restaurant in the village.  
“With what occasion, Orochi?” she teased.  
“I started missing you. And I thought you missed me as well.”  
Surprisingly enough, they really enjoyed themselves.

  
“I am really happy for Mitsuki. You must be proud of him.”  
Orochimaru smiled before he could say anything. It was true; that child, along with his brother, were his happiness. Not just because they were smart, powerful and beautiful, but because they were him family. The ultimate proof was when Mitsuki still came back home after the mission he completed by awakening the Sage Mode. The boy still came back to have a talk with his family about his emigration to Konoha, asking for advice and anything else he had to know. Mitsuki still loved his father.  
Tsunade smiled back as she watched him; it was rare for him to do that. But whenever it happened, her soul turned warmer. She was glad that there was still something good left in him, after everything.  
“I am, indeed.”

The waiter arrived with their drinks.  
“What are cheering for, Prince of the Snakes?”  
“Maybe first it would be fair if I told you the other reason I came in Konoha.”

Tsunade frowned. His words made her feel a bit uneasy.

“Don’t worry, I am not wrecking anything in the near future. I thought that maybe I should take a break for an undetermined period of time.”

The blonde widened her eyes. Was it real? He was actually thinking of that?

“What… made you-“  
“Honestly, I’m tired.”

Now that was unexpected. They let their glasses down, which they’ve been holding up until that point. It was his life-ambition to know every technique and to experiment on the human body and push its limits more and more. Hell, he even created life not once but twice. And that is being followed by a break?!

But she knew better not to question him; it was all in his eyes. It was true, he looked tired. They say eyes will betray your youthful looks and will always reveal your age; Orochimaru was no exception, and neither was she.

God, they were getting _really_ old.

Tsunade didn’t push the matter any further. There was plenty of time for questions for another time. After all this time, maybe, he was going to come back, and she would stop being alone.

“Then cheers to your break from being a mad scientist.”

It was only obvious that his first reply would be one of his typical smirks.

“Cheers.”

 - - -

The rest of the night wasn’t marked by any outstanding events; they had their tasty dinner which Orochimaru paid for, walked around Konoha and then he invited her over, even if technically speaking it wasn’t his house but Mitsuki’s. After all, she didn’t get to congratulate them properly.

Orochimaru opened the front door. He saw the three pairs of shiobi sandals at the entrance. He was announced by Mitsuki of the sleepover, so it was all fine. Tsunade followed him until they entered the boy’s bedrrom. There, they found the three chuunin playing cards.

“Good to see you enjoying yourselves.” That was supposed to be Orochimaru greeting them. Tsunade rolled her eyes and then waved at the three kids.  
“Dad! Aunt Tsuna! You’re back early!”

The boy jumped out of the bed immediately to hug the both of them. To him, Tsunade was part of the family. Also, he respected her a lot for being the Fifth Hoakge and thought of her as the strongest kunoichi and the most skilled med-nin in the world.

To Tsunade, all three of them were precious. Sarada was her favourite student’s daughter, Boruto was the son of the ‘brat’ who made her regain hope and Mitsuki was the child of her teammate that in the end proved himself to have some sense of humanity and not only.

“I am very proud of you, Mikki.”  
“You did as well as your old man over here,” pointed out Tsunade.

She and Mitsuki went to the other two. The woman also started showing her appreciation for Sarada and Boruto. Orochimaru just leaned against the wall, watching them. It was a rather nice view.

He only approached them when Mitsuki signaled him to join them. He could be such a child sometimes, seeking his father’s presence even when he was with his friends.  
Sarada and Boruto were somehow intimidated by him. There was something about him that made them feel not so safe.

“You know, your fathers have always been strong,” he started. He had everyone’s attention; even Tsunade was curious to see how it was going to turn out.  
“But they did terrible in the Chuunin Exams, despite holding power that many people would kill for,” he paused, and then a smirk formed on his lips, “It’s good to see that history finally stops repeating itself. You all did a great job.”  
Boruto and Sarada felt somehow proud, as their potential was acknowledged by a person that looked powerful and intelligent. With some doubt in their voices, they let out a “thank you”.

The Sannin left the room shortly after that and lied in the garden, gazing at the starry sky. There was some distance between them, but they stood side by side and, vaguely discussed about their own Chuunin Exams. Tsunade and Orochimaru fell asleep on the grass…

 

…Just to wake up in beds.

 

The male Sannin shot his eyes open as soon as he realized that. There was something really odd. Orochimaru felt the presence of another person sleeping near him.

_Mitsuki._

But how? He stood up, looking around.

As he looked around, he started taking notice of some details that weakened his knees. That was not Mitsuki’s room. The other two were missing, the bed was so much smaller than his and everything looked _old-fashioned_ and so damn _familiar_.

Then, it was the photo on the desk that got him sweating; a very tall man, with brown hair, fair skin and golden eyes, near him a very pale woman with purple hair markings around her green eyes. In the middle, there was a brunet toddler that happened to be none other than… him.

Just how in the world did he end up in his old house?


	2. Konoha We Once Knew

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long to update it!  
> It is short-ish (sorry about this) but starting from the next chapter, there will be interaction between Team Konohamaru and Orochimaru and Tsunade aka material for plot ayyy  
> I hope you enjoy it! Don't forget to review:3

"Who... are you...?"

The hesitant voice was Mitsuki's. Orochimaru was even more confused; he turned to him only to see the boy trembling with a kunai in his hand. Mitsuki still had to work on controlling his emotions. But why was he asking him-

 _Oh_.

Because of the shock, Orochimaru missed a small, yet important detail. He realized he was significantly shorter, his hair was down and the earrings were missing.

_It couldn't be._

"Are you another brother of mine?! Answer me!"

But the man ignored him. He was losing himself in the hundreds of thoughts that were racing through his mind. His eyes, filled with terror, stared at his tiny hands and in the end, mustered up the nerve to look in the mirror near him, on the closet door. It was no illusion; Orochimaru was 12 once again.  
He was finally snapped out of his thoughts when he found himself in the grip of many phantom-like snakes. It was only obvious that his son would get angry and become more direct. Mitsuki activated sage mode, but Orochimaru did not care.  
He had to live once again as a sorry orphan, pitied by the villagers and had to be on his own once again.

After all his hard work, apparently, everything has been nullified. He didn't like it. Not in the least.

"Hey, don't ignore me-"  
"Shut up, idiot! Can't you tell I am your father?!"  
"What kind of bullshit is this?!"  
"I wouldn't know either, Mitsuki!"  
"Prove me you're my parent."  
"The pyjama you're wearing was made by me, and you received it as one of your many presents from me on your 11th birthday that happens to be 25th of July. You were then in Konoha and I was on a mission in Kiri." Mitsuki calmed down and released his parent. It was him alright; he could also tell by the disgust he could spot in his eyes.

"I'm sorry..." The brunet was already pissed off, but instead of scolding his child, he decided to force a smile. Totally out of his character, but it was for Mitsuki. He knew more than anyone that the boy needed someone to make him sure he's alright, and it was his duty to be that person. After all, he loved him.

Orochimaru explained him that they were in his old house, but didn't know the circumstances of how they got there. He showed him from where he could take clothes to change. In the meantime, the Sannin checked the house. Turned out everything was exactly how he remembered it: the earrings were on his mother's night table, the paintings on the walls were in the same order as about 60 years ago and even the smell was the same. He started hurting from the nostalgia that took over his mind.

How long has it passed since he felt that? Even if he never stopped visiting his parents' grave, he learned to grew detached from his part, and make everything just a distant memory. But apparently, being put in that old house again could change that.

Leaving everything, Orochimaru went to a corner of the hall and sat down, hugging his knees to his chest.  
It really hurt.  
He told himself a million times he would become the strongest and the best there is, that he would become the ultimate human being everyone needed in order to achieve true power. He would extend his life as much as he wanted, no matter how many lives it took. He didn't care.   
Yet, in that very moment, he felt nothing like that. He felt weak, helpless, in need of someone to comfort him, even if he was the one calming down Mitsuki earlier. Was that really supposed to be his punishment for his self-righteous actions? For not feeling guilty of becoming what he was? Being alone _really sucked_.

And yet, someone bothered to come and sit near him, putting an arm around him. It felt warm and comfortable. Orochimaru felt pathetic as he couldn't control his sobbing and the hot tears running down his cheeks.

"It's alright, dad, we will figure this out, as we always do. You're one of the Sannin and I am your son; we shall be fine."

* * *

 

Mitsuki was instructed to sneak around Konoha and search for his teammates; the brunet supposed those two had something to do with the situation. Mitsuki, however, started knowing better as he wandered around the village in an over-sized cloak of his grandfather.  
He recalled yesterday's events one by one, and so, he remembered about the scroll.

_Time travel jutsu._

Orochimaru figured out they were back in time as soon as he saw the Hokage Mountain and Uchiha people in the village.

Did Boruto and Sarada actually perform it? Were they that irresponsible?  
No... he trusted them enough so they don't do anything that stupid. He denied over and over again the theory in his head.

"Mitsu-"  
As soon as he heard his name being called by a familiar voice, he ran straight forward to him and covered his mouth. It was Boruto. Quickly, he dragged the boy with him in a tree. "What the Hell, Mitsuki?! Why are you dressed like that? You know what's happening?!"  
"How could you tell it was me?"  
"Everyone is wearing simple sandals here. And only you and Shikadai wear shinobi shoes that don't cover your heels."  
"Good point."  
"Now, tell me what you know and why you look like you're undercover," Boruto was not going to tell Mitsuki anything until he knew what the boy was aware of up until that moment.  
"I believe it's time travel. I woke up in the apartment of my dad, and he's in his 12 year old body. More exactly, we are 57 years back in time. He told me to stay undercover and look for you and Sarada and bring you to his house. It's for the best if we don't stand out too much. Since dad is an orphan, it's safe to stay there." The blond was ready to protest; he didn't like Orochimaru, not in the least. It was enough to see him two or three times to realise that he wasn't particularly good or a pleasant company. You could hardly tell the gender! But what could he do? He knew nothing and had nowhere to go. 

Mitsuki had other two capes and handed one of them to Boruto. Staying out of the villagers' sight, they looked for Sarada, and found her right away somewhere near where the Uchiha clan resided. Fortunately for Boruto, the girl did not bring up the last night's incident in the discussion. He decided there was no way he would tell Mitsuki about what happened if Orochimaru was directly affected by his mistake. That guy scared the crap out of him.

* * *

"Are you okay, Orochimaru? You seem a bit off."  
_I am perfectly fine, sensei. It feels great talking to you and Jiraiya like I've never turned my back to you. Thank you for asking and probably making me feel like shit, if it's even possible._ He would've said it out loud if that Hiruzen would've been the one who died in his timeline. 

"I probably need to catch up with sleeping," he lied, that leaving a sour taste in his mouth.

Orochimaru turned to Tsunade, wondering from which era was she. Much to his surprise, she was already looking in his direction discretely, frowning a bit. She never did that out of the blue back in the days. 

 _That's my Tsunade I guess,_ the boy thought, but shook his head when he realised he referred to to blonde as "his".

"I called you today to congratulate you for your promotion to Chuunin personally and properly!  I am so proud of you three! Also, rest assured; you have a week to rest so no missions by next Tuesday. How should we celebrate?"  
There was no way Orochimaru would lose time over such childish things. He had better things to do than celebrate his Chuunin promotion that happened so long ago, such as taking care of his lab or verify Karin's reports. Hell, he even wondered if she and the other two were doing fine! That surrounding was no good for him, he softened so fast.

"Tsunade? Are you... crying?"

Jiraiya's remark caught Orochimaru's attention. He turned to look at her and there she was, staring blankly at the ground with tears rushing down her face. The three of them got closer to her. The albino and their sensei wondered what could be wrong but Orochimaru supposed what it could be. 

How could she be alright when she got thrown back in the days where dead people she cared about were alive once again? Even if it sounded nice and convenient, it probably just hit ther like a train. 

And for a reason, it hurt his heart, seeing the blonde like that. One thing was for sure: he  _had_ to calm her down as soon as possible.

"It's nothing, really," she started, with a dull voice, "It's just that I had a really bad dream. I am terribly sorry, sensei, Jiraiya, but I don't think I will be able to celebrate anything today. I am not feeling too well." Orochimaru noticed how she didn't include him. She must have figured out he was from her timeline.

"I'll get you home, Hime."  
"...Thanks, Orochi."

The other two exchanged some looks but they just let the two of them be.

\- - -

The blonde and the brunet were sitting near a lake in a somehow comfortable silence. Both of them were looking at the horizon that was sickening. It looked so beautiful and bright, while their situation was not just a cloudy day; it was a storm.

Tsunade finally learned to get over the deaths of her beloved teammate, her little brother and her sensei that she admired so much. Seeing them again was clearly not what she needed to remain stable. Orochimaru, on the other hand, still felt kind of guilty. Worse than that, he was back to being a child and a civilian of Konoha, meaning his income was once again small and had to take everything from zero. He worked so hard to achieve whatever he wanted and now, because of some unknown idiot, he lost it all, apparently.

Even so, he had Mitsuki. And that made it better, somehow. And Tsunade was near him, in need of comfort. Maybe he could make it right. After all, he had nothing else to do. Not to mention that the boy's chest was still hurting.  
"Tsunade-"  
"Why? What have I done so wrong, to deserve this?" She tried to keep calm, but as she started speaking again, her voice broke.

"I HATE IT! I HATE IT SO MUCH! NAWAKI IS DEAD, MY PARENTS, GRANDMA MITO, SENSEI AND JIRAIYA; THEY ALL DIED! I AM NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE, THIS IS NOT WHERE I BELONG, I DON'T DESERVE  _ANY_ OF THIS! IT'S THE PERFECT WORLD I DO NOT DESERVE, NOT IN THE LEAST! I DARED TO LEAVE THE VILLAGE FOR BEING SELFISH, I LET JIRAIYA GO THAT DAY! OROCHIMARU, THIS IS TOO MUCH FOR ME TO TAKE!" She was desperately screaming between the violent sobbing, punching the ground.  
"Just why... why didn't I die?" Orochimaru almost froze. She was never supposed to wonder about such thing. The thought of her being dead, gave him... chills running down his spine. 

There were different ways Orochimaru showed his affection to his sons: the man would just smile brightly at them, give them an impressing speech or comfort them with words, pat their head or crack some jokes.

But when it was really bad, he would hug them very tight, so both Mitsuki and Log would know he loves them and is there for his sons.

And that's what Tsunade needed.

He hugged her and brought her head to his chest, rubbing the girl's back slowly.   
"Easy, Tsunade, easy..."  
She got a tight grip on Orochimaru's kimono and started sobbing even more.  
"You don't deserve this, that's true. You deserve better. You deserve to go back and live  _your_ life. You survived three wars and not only. Tsunade Senju is a strong person, the whole world knows it."

It was totally out of his character to say these things, but it wasn't like he cared. So what if he felt like he wanted to comfort her?  
_If there's one single thing which all humans should be forgiven for regardless of the circumstances, that is acting "out of love", is it not?_ he said in his mind.

Did he love Tsunade?

* * *

"Sarada, I am afraid I'll have to ask you to take your clothes off."  
They were already in Orochimaru's house, in his parents' room.

Boruto thought it was big, quite vintage, extremely clean but had a cold air. It's not that it didn't look welcoming, but the atmosphere was quite bizarre. Sarada was not strange to that sight; sure, the Otogakure hideout looked nothing like that, but everything felt the same, but the surroundings were less threatening. She didn't feel  _that_ endangered. 

But the Uchiha girl was confused and angered by Mitsuki's words.

"EXCUSE ME?!" she aimed for his face, but the boy dodged it in the last second.  
"Don't get me wrong, Sarada, but it's too risky to have you walking around with the Uchiha crest! Here, have some of my dad's clothes."  
Sarada calmed down. She looked at the clothes in his hand. The kimono was dark blue and long, and it was really neat. It even smelled nice.  
"... Then you shouldn't have put the matter like that. Jeez, you sounded like a pervert," she paused, and took the piece of clothing in her hand, "Are you sure your dad is okay with this?"  
"Well, it was him who came up with the idea so he already knows. This is anyway one of his least worries. Go change and we'll talk about this situation.

Awkwardly, she grinned and made her way to what she supposed it was Orochimaru's room.  
As she changed her clothes, Sarada started looking around. The room was tidier than any other she has seen before. With a medium bed, a large desk with some scrolls on it and drawers that were probably filled with many others and books, and some decorations here and there, the room felt so empty. Maybe that's how it was living without someone to wait home for you with a hot dish or just be there to tell you "welcome home". That's what her father went through. And she has been taken away from him and her mother because of her curiosity.   
She went to the desk and looked at what was there. Among the scrolls, there was a framed photo of him, with two adults near him. The woman had long, purple hair, and had the same markings around her eyes. Her green eyes looked oddly cold, yet loving. Her skin was probably even paler than Orochimaru's, if that thing was possible. The man appeared to be very tall, with fair skin tone and brown hair that reached his elbows. His eyes caught her attention; they were golden, just like Mitsuki's. It was weird how the resemblance of the eyes was perfect. Then there was Orochimaru as a toddler, held up by his parents. 

"It's heartwarming seeing my dad so happy," stated Mitsuki, who appeared out of nowhere along with Boruto, scaring the girl.  
"Did I tell you that you could walk in?!" she shouted  
"Everybody knows it doesn't really take you long to chance, Sarada," Boruto pointed out, "but nevermind that now. Mitsuki said we should talk."  
The confidence and the innocence in Boruto's voice almost made Sarada sick, but there was no other way. Their mistake dragged the Sannin along with them, a very scary person actually. Not to mention that the impact of the event was not nothing. Just for a while, they were going to pretend they knew nothing.  
But was this the actual solution? Maybe keeping it away would mean not turning back at all, and the girl started missing the Konoha she lived in a lot. 

_Boruto, I hope you understand._

"Mitsuki, you should know this..."  
And while she was speaking, disappointment, sadness and a bit of anger could be spotted in those golden eyes of his.


	3. In Need of Money

Mitsuki has always been the image of a perfect student and kid.  
As a small child, he would barely cry. Even if he did, he had actual reasons and stopped as soon as his diapers were changed, got food and so on. When the boy was told not to do something, he would listen and not question it. Orochimaru found it hard to make him think for himself, and when the time came for him to choose a path in life, he seemed to be very dependent either of him or of Log. He had to erase Mitsuki's memory 6 times to be sure he would realize walking down the Sannin's path or his older brother's would not benefit him in a world of peace.

At the Academy, he managed to become the top student, as he proved himself as an outstanding and extremely skilled boy. Some would even call him a natural talent.   
Despite being the son of the most feared rogue-nin, there was no teacher who complained about him. Damn, not even Anko could dislike him! Mitsuki was polite, hardworking, smart, serious when needed and honest.

Boruto was his best friend. The blond considered him a bit weird and even twisted at first, but in the end he turned out to be just fine. 

Mitsuki thought Sarada was  _okay._ He admired her ambition and respected her for the Uchiha name, but he could not deny that she was loud and so damn annoying, insisting on the Hokage thing permanently. Boruto was also way too cocky from time to time.  
But in the end, they were him teammates, his friends, and he was always willing to put up with all of their flaws.

Still, they performed kinjutsu  _and_ wanted to keep that away from him because of his father.

Mitsuki felt betrayed and disappointed. Pointing it out, however, was redundant.

"I hope you don't expect me to keep my mouth shut in front of my dad."  
The other two almost froze.  
"Mitsuki don't get us wrong-"  
"Don't get you wrong?! What the hell, Sarada?! When you stumble across jutsu like this, you don't try it out without studying it! I get it, you made a mistake, and even if it's a big one, I can understand, but you dragged me in and dare to order me around! I am afraid you have to realize you were wrong in front of dad, even if he is not the best guy in your point of view. But truth be told, I am not sure how bad he is, considering that he never made me wanna go back in time to learn about his past, as he preferred to be honest!"

"Hey! Don't you dare criticise the parenting we received! It's a direct insult to our families!"  
"Maybe then you should stop treating me differently just because dad's-"  
"Enough."

At the door, a boy that appeared to be as tall as Mitsuki, with dark long hair and a hateful glare coming straight from his eyes with purple markings around, caught their attention.

Sarada and Boruto felt their knees weakening, while Mitsuki sighed and shook his head.  
"Are y-you...-"  
"No, let  _me_ ask you a question,  _Uchiha._ Are you and this Uzumaki troublemaker involved with this time travel accident? Here's a tip: you cannot lie. Unless, of course, you don't mind torture."  
"You wouldn't dare-"

Orochimaru didn't even have to speak up to make Boruto shut up. It was all in his eyes. Of course he would dare, there was no mama or papa to defend those two, and he wasn't an idiot to think that he could take him on. Sarada thought the same. 

Mitsuki was caught in between, but his interference was not needed. His teammates were smart enough to obey, fact that both Mitsuki and Orochimaru were aware of.

Softening his glare, the brunet walked towards Boruto and Sarada. 

"I hope you'll get comfortable with these clothes. Learn how to live like runaways; it will come in handy. If you value your lives, give up on considering yourselves Uzumaki, Uchiha, or even a son of the Sannin and the leader of Oto. In this world, you will stick as shadows, nothing more and nothing less. Trust no one except the people in this room. Oh and also Tsunade; she has also been dragged in your mistake."

As the kids heard that, they gulped.  _Nothing_ compared with Tsunade's wrath.

"Most importantly; if you see a man with an "x" scar on his chin, let me know as soon as possible. If you don't, you will be in big trouble."  
"Are you talking about Danzo, dad? And how are we supposed to contact you?"

The name of Danzo triggered a vague memory of Sarada. She once happened to overhear her parents discussing something in the kitchen. She could only remember that her father had a bitter voice while speaking of that man.

"The only way to keep track of you three is to seal a White Zetsu in each of you, which means I have to get some Hashirama cells," he rubbed his temples "It will be a  _long_ day."

At that point, Boruto was extremely confused, and he wanted to know just what the hell could that freak want with their bodies.  
"Wait a minute, Orochimaru-"  
Mitsuki and Orochimaru turned their icy sights to him  
"I mean, Orochimaru-sama," he corrected himself in a nervous tone, "would y-you be so kind and tell us what you plan on doing with u-us, explain what a Danzo and Zetsu is?" God, he sounded really awkward.  
"Look, kid. Fortunately, I have one week without missions, so there's plenty of time for story telling. Plus, I also have to make Sarada a pair of eye contacts. We'd hate to have your identity exposed, no?"  
Sarada wondered why was he concerned so much with keeping the Sharingan a secret. It seemed reasonable, but he appeared to be more cautious than her about it.

"Just to be clear, I am doing this because Mitsuki's my son and b) I am in Sasuke's debt for over 15 years. Although I hate to admit it, I won't ever be able to pay him back."  
Now, facing the floor, he smirked and whispered for himself "damn Uchiha", in an amused tone.   
While Mitsuki smirked, the other two just gave up wondering what everything could be about. They were not going to get any explication anytime soon.

 "With my money, we won't be able to get enough food for the four of us," he was facing once again Boruto and Sarada, turning after that to Mitsuki, "How about going gambling with aunt Tsunade, Mikki? She needs some cheering, anyway." It's only obvious that your teammates will be joining us, as well."  
They all nodded.  
"Sarada, would you be a dear and set us under an invisibility genjutsu? As I said, I prefer keeping all this thing at least at minimum discretion."

 

\- - -

The village was  _full_ of Uchiha people. As much as Sarada wanted to be joyful about it, she couldn't. It pained her knowing that she was the only one left, that once ago they were a numerous clan. What happened, though? Why would no one talk about it?

"Sarada," Mitsuki snapped her out of her thoughts, "We arrived. Set dad out of the genjutsu."  
She did as she was told.

_Knock knock._

"Aah, Orochimaru, good to see you!" a middle aged woman that somehow resembled Karin greeted the boy.  
"It is also good to see you, Mito-san. Have you been doing well lately?"

“Oh, very well, in fact! Tsunade is still a bit sad, if you’re looking for her. But don’t worry, come in for some tea and-“  
“Actually, I was wondering if she’d be interested in once in a lifetime invitation from me, to go gambling-“  
As soon as he spoke the last word, the blonde appeared in front of the door, scaring her grandmother and the other three a bit.  
“Suddenly, I feel so much better! Bye, grandma!”  
As she could not see the others, Tsunade just grabbed Orochimaru by the back of his kimono’s collar and sprinted to her favourite place for gambling outside the village. Team Konohamaru did their best as they tried to keep up with the very enthusiastic blonde.

However, they failed to notice how they left behind a frowning Mito. Even if the genjutsu hid their physical presence, the woman could still sense their chakra. It wasn’t the presence of an Uchia that bothered her, but rather the person who clearly had some Kyuubi chakra. Just how in the world? The whole Tailed Beast was sealed inside her. There was also another one who possessed a _lot_ of chakra, probably enough to enter the sage mode without trying too hard. What made her wonder was how none of it seemed dark, even if it was similar to Orochimaru’s. Why was it similar to Orochimaru’s, anyway? She didn't particularly like the situation

* * *

When they got near the local, Orochimaru told Sarada to undo the jutsu, even if he couldn't see them. He then basically put her and Boruto explain everything to Tsunade. Even if Tsunade only aimed to punch Boruto in the face, while he was sent flying, he stumbled across Sarada. They both fell on the ground and groaned in pain.  
You just don't mess with Senju Tsunade.

At first, when they entered the local, it was extremely noisy. Loud music, people swearing, some fights here and there and so on. But then, someone noticed Tsunade walking in not with one, but two boys by her sides.  
"I-It's Princess Tsunade! With Orochimaru! We're doomed!"  
"T-the other guy, he also reminds me of a snake! Everyone, fear for your money!"  
Orochimaru and Mitsuki were basically the symbols of white snakes, more exactly of good fortune and rebirth. Orochimaru alone was able to nullify Tsunade's incredible bad luck and always helped her gain at least double the sum she's bet on. But two talismans? Oh, boy, it was going to be intense.   
The blond and the brunette were just walking behind them like lost puppies. They trusted the other three with their safety, even if it didn't sound like the best idea.

The path cleared for the five of them. They walked towards the biggest table, where some very muscular Kiri and Iwa nins were playing poker. Noticing that they had no intention to make place for the kids, Tsunade coughed loudly.  
"Excuse me, but I came here to win."  
At first, the men stared at her, and after some seconds, they burst out laughing.  
"Tsunade? You? Haha, what a joke! Aren't you tired of losing?"  
Not bothering to say something, she took out of her pocket a huge tank of money. Immediately, the men grabbed another couch for those five.

Mitsuki and his parent basically did nothing. They just stayed there near Tsunade and waited for results. Mitsuki explained his teammates the whole good luck thing. They found it interesting, but did not believe it at first. Then...  
"Looks like it all goes to me~"  
Except the so called lucky charms, everyone at the table stared at the proud looking Tsunade. 2 million yen just from the first round. That only angered the other competitors, and they called on another one.  
Yet, Tsunade won again. And again. And once again.  
Sarada had her jaw dropped. It was ridiculous; 20 million yen. Yet, she believed it was rather risky to got for another one. Quickly, she glanced at Orochimaru. Surprisingly enough, he looked back at her and understood her immediately.   
"Guys, that's all for today. Too bad for you."  
The brunet signaled the others to get ready to disappear from there with another gaze.  
"What?! You can't just leave!"  
But by then, Mitsuki grabbed really fast everything they won and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

 

* * *

"I want to know at least what pushed you into doing something so outrageous."

Tsunade was genuinely angry at Sarada and Boruto. It was only unfair that she had to suffer because of some brats' mistake.

All five of them were at Orochimaru's in his living room. While Tsunade wanted to talk to those two, Orochimaru and Mitsuki were busy with sharing the money between them and the blonde. 4 million for each.

"W-well, it's not like we thought it would work, to begin with. It didn't sound believable," Boruto started.  
"Yet, we hoped that it would work... Our families don't talk that much about their pasts and we are very curious to find out about everything! For example, why is Lord Seventh hosting Kurama? Why was dad gone for so long even as a teenager?" No doubt, the girl was sad. She was really seeking for answers.

Tsunade sighed and turned to Orochimaru. She would only expect that he'd be the one to answer all their questions. After all, he was the one who made Sasuke leave.   
And he had nothing against story times.

Just not in that moment.

"Sarada, there's a lot to be said, and I believe you have even more questions, but believe me; it's really not the time. The shock of the jutsu affected all of us, including you, team Konohamaru. If I tell you about your father or anout Lord Seventh, you will probably have a panic attack and activate the two tomoe Sharingan."

"And what about it?" she asked.

"We will avoid this because I said so. And if I tell you know, I have the feeling I will have to repeat myself in front of others. Let's just wait until everyone who would like to hear the story is gathered," his smirk made Tsunade question what his intentions were, while Mitsuki sighed. To him it was nothing new at all and couldn't care less who those other people could be. He just wanted to get back to Otogakure and complain to Karin.

* * *

 

That night, they all got their capes ready. Tsunade was told about their plan, and even though she didn't particularly like the idea, she still let them do it. Orochimaru had a point; those three needed to be supervised permanently, just in case.

At about 2 a.m., they left the house. Orochimaru grabbed along some of his mother's lab equipment, so he could get rid of any evidence if something would go wrong.

Through the shadows, the group of four people were going under the Hokage mountain, where Hashirama's body rested. As a side note for himself, Orochimaru also remembered that Madara was there as well. Or at least, he was supposed to.

"We're almost here," Boruto pointed out.  
"Dad, do you think we'll be alright?"  
"Yes," he nodded, but did not look at his son. He was concentrating on how to get past the guard.   
"We'll have to move very fast," he said, "Sarada, can you cast him under a genjutsu or put him to sleep?"

She gave him an unsure look.

"I don't think I can do that much with one tomoe."  
"But what if the person is already weakened from poison?"  
"I'll try."

And so, Orochimaru sent a small snake to the man guarding the door. Fortunately, it managed to bite him by the toe. When he wanted to scream in pain, Sarada went immediately to him. Covering his mouth, she activated her Sharingan and slowly, the man fell asleep, like he forgot about the poison how was infected with. The girl felt guilty for doing it. That's not something her father or Lord Seventh would be proud of. But she was scared of Orochimaru. Very much, in fact.  
The brunette searched for the key, finding it in no time.

"Dad, can we go in while you stay here, just in case they guy wakes up?" like that, Mitsuki would expose him if he wanted something more than creating a White Zetsu for each of them. Somehow, he wanted his dad to protest and so he would be the hero of the day. He even started daydreaming about beating his ass good. Even Sarada and Boruto wished for the same thing, so their theories against Orochimaru would turn out to be right.

"Sure, go ahead."

Their jaws dropped to the ground.

"EEEEEH?!?!"

"What? I have enough for myself back in our timeline and I can clone even more. Plus the Hokage knows I'll stay put. So just go ahead and hurry," he spoke monotonically. It's like it didn't mean a thing to him and was just another mission. They were basically robbing the village! How could he be so calm? Moreover, he was exclusively doing it for them.

Sarada opened the door and rushed in, followed by the other two boys. They scattered and looked for the room where he could be. It was Boruto who succeeded in finding the room with two tombs. It didn't take long for Sarada and Mitsuki to find him. He already took off the tops of the two boxes, and when his gaze met Sarada's and Mitsuki's, he appeared to be very confused.

"Guys, which of them?"

Mitsuki entered the room and looked at both bodies.

"The one with straight hair is Senju Hashirama. The other one is Uchiha Madara."

But as he took a closer look, Mitsuki realised something important.

"H-his body... is in perfect condition."

What everyone knew was that Madara got killed by Hashirama after a long, bloody fight that left some scars even on Hashirama, whi survived. All three of them were now staring at the body. Mitsuki dared to take out a kunai and get even closer to Madara.

"Maybe it's for the best to try out and take some of him as well."

But as he tried to cut, the body disappeared.

Shadow Clone.

Their bodies were instantly struck with fear. Their eyes were wide open, filled with terror but also with uncertainty, hoping that they were just hallucinating. But the body was no longer there.

"Madara... is alive," Sarada managed to whisper.  
"What do we do now?" The boy with golden eyes asked.

Surprisingly enough, Boruto was the first to get himself together. He took Mitsuki's kunai from his hand and went to Hashirama.  
He noticed how parts of him were already missing, like someone had the same intention as them. He decided to keep that information for later. Maybe Orochimaru was right; it wasn't recommend for someone like Sarada to be told everything at once.

\- - -

When they returned to Orochimaru, they were still looking horrified. Boruto just gave him what he got, daring to look in his eyes. The brunet signaled them to keep silent, as he awoke the man. He made him swallow a drink and as fast as he could, he performed some hand signs, whispered something, and took off with Misuki and his team.

Once they got back, the "host" served them with instant Yakisoba that he happened to have. 

"You really seem like something scarred you for life. Mind telling me what happened?"  
Before he mustered up the nerve to tel him anything, Mitsuki was on the edge of breaking down. It was his fault this time. But he had to be an example and act responsible.

"I... tried to take some of Madara's flesh as well."  
"And? Very well, nothing bad about it."  
"But there was a problem."

Orochimaru looked at him curiously.

"It was not his body, but a shadow clone."

At first, he appeared to be a bit angry, but the three of them were mentally exhausted and didn't have the power to defend themselves anyway. But everything changed soon; he was now having a wide devil-like grin on his face, laughing for himself.

"Madara, you're as good as dead."


	4. Another User of the Jutsu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyy people! Sorry it took so long but I've been gone for some time (yaaay holiday) and I will be for the next two weeks lol  
> So about Madara: it was mentioned in an episode that appeared some time ago these months that he replaced his body with a shadow clone and I thought I could use this XD   
> Enjoy and pleeaaase review

At least twelve years have passed since Madara supposedly died. Twelve years of relief for some Konoha villagers, for some Uchiha of mourning and for others, just another period of time that passed by.  
Yet, Madara lost count. He just sat in a chair inside the cave he was brought into by Black Zetsu, the one that saved his life. The man was desperately wishing for something to happen, for someone with potential to be on the verge of death, so he can send his subordinate to save them, and in the end to corrupt that person so he can play his game. Even with the Rinnegan, he knew he couldn’t carry the “Infinite Tsukuyomi” project to the end alone.

He left a shadow clone in his tomb; that way, it would have been more credible.  
Madara never thought that someone would actually step in the room where his “corpse” was. Not some confused kids, whose fear could be felt by a shadow clone and even by the original person. He never thought that they would come for his flesh.  
As he gained all the knowledge acquired by the shadow clone, he got mad. No matter how he looked at it, karma was not on his side. Even if they were to report the information to the Hokage and the searches for his body would be serious, the chances for him to get discovered were small, yet existent. Zetsu was also very much aware of that.  
“Shall I go and investigate Konoha, Madara-sama?”  
“I thought there was no need to mention that.”  
As Zetsu was ready to set off, Madara held him back a bit longer.

"Wait."  
He created a shadow clone.  
"Might want to take this with you. Just in case."

* * *

 Tsunade was genuinely mad.  
Mad because she had to go through all that pain. Mad because Boruto and Sarada were reckless. Mad because Orochimaru was playing his game and no one could raise a finger, not even her. Infiltrating, stealing flesh, creating life; these were just small things to Orochimaru. Not even after so many years, Tsuande could not get accustomed to his teammate being so indifferent to committing crimes, breaking the laws, playing God and getting innocent kids involved. The man didn't have to try hard to make Sarada and Boruto believe that what he was doing was the only way they would stay safe. Not that there were better alternatives.

There she was sitting in her old bed, awake at 4 a.m., thinking about nothing at all.

  
"Henge no Jutsu," she whispered, weavling the specific hand seals. From the cloud of smoke, she came out as her 70 year old version with the young appearance. Suddenly, the bed seemed quite small. In fact, the room itself looked like it shrunk. 

  
It was amazing, how there were all the small things she once grew very attached to, but with time she abandoned them. The stuffed animals she got from her family, the super expensive kimono collection from her grandmother, even her head protector; it has been so long since she wore it. Then there were all those photos on her desk and hung on the walls. With her grandfather, grandmother and great uncle, with her parents, her first photo with Nawaki, memories from different events such as her day she entered the academy, when she graduated, and lastly, the one with her team. She always had it in the back of her mind; Sarutobi Hiruzen standing behind Jiraiya, both of them wearing a rather similar grin. She was on the left side of the photo, faintly smiling, and on the her opposite, Orochimaru. There must have been at least 30 years since she saw him frowning like he did in that photo. Ever since he changed, he would only smirk, grin maniacally or would hardly contain his temper, appearing mad.

Yet, he tried to make her feel better. He comforted her and showed a soft part of him, exclusively for the blonde.  
"Just... how much can you change? Are you not satisfied with yourself...?" she asked, like the man would be there to answer her.

Tsunade undid the jutsu and went back to her bed. She feel asleep thinking that maybe, just maybe, this whole situation would be a chance to finally get to his heart.

 

* * *

The four of them managed to infiltrate in Konoha's laboratory. Orochimaru managed to create two Zetsu for each kid. Because he sped up the process, the creatures were not able to walk or be able to think for themselves. The link between the chuunin and Orochimaru was established by the Hashirama cells. Even if Sarada and Boruto wanted to protest, they decided to trust him as they saw Mitsuki sitting still while his parent sealed within the boy the experiments.

Nothing hurt at all, surprisingly, and didn't feel any change. They were too tired to question anything, anyway. The time travellers agreed to go back to the Sannin's house once again, but for good this time. 

"I am sooo tired," Sarada pointed out, yawning.  
"I second that," added Boruto, "Orochimaru-sama, are you sure those white things won't affect us in any way?"  
"They are way too undeveloped. Sarada, your father had six Zetsu attached to him. They were very developed and yet, he never noticed them, even he has always been sharp. Let's classify it as one of Zetsu's property, even if it's not fully right: it manages to blend in."  
Even if they were so damn close to falling asleep, they finally managed to make sense of his words. Obviously, they did not the miss the part where he mentioned Sasuke.  
Orochimaru sure looked like a mysterious person, dangerous, fearful, yet interesting and sure well documented. It only made Boruto and Sarada think of more questions.

But they knew it wasn't the right time. After what they did, the two of them learned to wait.

All of them crashed on Orochimaru's bed, not caring about the little space they had. They just needed to sleep.

\- - -

Next morning, Orochimaru woke up earlier than the others. Since he didn't have anything planned for that day, or the rest of the week, he left a note on his table and sneaked out of his house. 

Konohagakure looked annoyingly unwelcoming to him.  
He decided to walk around, hopelessly looking for some clues. But only small details regarding the general image of the village caught his attention. The Ramen place where he would always go with Tsunade and Jiraiya, the strong flower scent coming from the Yamanaka flower shop, kids playing around, the vandalized Hokage mountain that was permanently being cleaned, the Hokage tower, and many more. As a kid, these were some elements that just made Konoha, Konoha. Now every single part of it seemed to push him away, make him feel unwanted. It wasn't supposed to hurt him, yet he got a certain feeling in his chest, a very unpleasant one.

It was no good. He had to get back as soon as possible.

A weird shadow appeared on a tree. Looking around, Orochimaru realized he was the only one who noticed it. He was either hallucinating, or that was no shadow at all, and his sight must have missed something important. Curious, he decided to go after it, even if it felt no trace at all.  
When he was sure that no one was watching him, he dared to call out the thing he saw on a firm tone "You awoke my interest. Honestly, you remind of a creature from my dreams."  
He waited some seconds, until something that looked like a plain black person with yellow eyes appeared before him.  
"And who are you, if I may ask?" the addressed to Orochimaru.  
"Oh, I go by many names, but I stick with Orochimaru. You look very interesting, though."  
The black guy suddenly got a bad feeling about the kid in front of him. He appeared to be the "mister know-it-all" type, yet he was certain that the boy was not just being arrogant.  
"You said I reminded you of something. It would really be interesting if you would inform me on that aspect."  
Orochimaru chuckled. "Zetsu. That was probably his name. He played Madara Uchiha in his hand, to revive his dearest Mother. I would say that he's not that much of a bad guy, right?"  
Silence.  
Orochimaru hated more than anything to lie, act or hide. He preferred being straight to the point and fast so much more. He lied his cards on the table at every given opportunity. As he was already pissed off by the situation he was in, he had no intention of hiding the truth from Zetsu. He wasn't scared of Zetsu or Madara. Not even the two of them would stand a chance in front of him and Tsunade, not in the state in which Madara was currently in. Not to mention that he could involve Mitsuki, Sarada and Boruto without getting them too injured.   
After all, the only reason why Zetsu's plan succeeded was because he could keep Madara and himself hidden. 

"You tell Madara to prepare psychically. I mean, he's an Uchiha, right? He is already strong so there's no way a 50 year old could lose against a twelve year old if he were to come at him, right?" he smiled innocently.  
"Why would you even do that?" hissed Zetsu.  
"To be perfectly honest, I am bored." Not understanding, the black creature continued to stare at the pale boy. "I couldn't care less what you and Madara plan because it's none of my concern. Not until it affects me directly, and I don't want to play the hero and save the whole world, it's not my type. However, I have nothing better to do."  
The last sentence was enough for Zetsu to make him perform the Body Coating technique, Orochimaru dodged him easily each time, laughing.

"You're an eyesore, Zetsu. Go back to your hideout and patiently wait. Maybe, this time, you'll have it your way, if you manage to defeat a certain individual."  
And so, Orochimaru disappeared in a puff. 

\- - -

For him, the rest of the morning mainly consisted in beaking into Tsunade's room to keep her up with the updates. Obviously, she didn't buy and of it at first, but tried to accept it as soon as she got out of her house and met Boruto and his team. They had no plan, but they were all a bit tempted into taking on Madara together, as dangerous as it sounded.  
When the male Sannin told Team Konohamaru about his encounter with Black Zetsu, they just sighed. It was unbelievable how fast everything was happening around them. They needed time to proceed the events. Boruto and Sarada, at least. Mitsuki already knew the whole Black Zetsu and Kaguya story. Heck, he knew the whole shinobi history. He was simply not too happy with the idea of living it himself.

"I still believe that it would be relevant if me and Boruto would know a bit more. After all, how do you expect us to fully cooperate?" asked Sarada.  
"The way that you and your friend can make yourselves useful does not require any historical information yet. As I said, just wait."  
"You know, I still don't fully trust you. One thing dad told me about you was that I must stay away from you. Yet here I am, left with no choice but blindly follow your orders," she meant to sound dead serious, yet Orochimaru couldn't help but laugh.  
"Ah, just look at you, Sarada-chan, you're just like Sasuke-kun! I could swear it was him talking just now. Aren't you, sole Uchiha survivors, lovely?"  
The girl turned all red from embarrassment and anger. How _dare_ he?  
"Wh-what?! I am _nothing_ like that father of mine who couldn't even become Hokage! He can be cool, but I aim to become something else, something greater!"  
"Well, just for your information, your mother wasn't actually ever much of a tsundere, so you didn't get this prominent characteristic from Sakura~" teased Tsunade. At that, the others could hardly contain their amusement. Sarada covered her face with her hands, not daring to look up.  
"You shall learn the truth soon enough, but not now. I have no intention of using you or hurting you in any way; it would not benefit me."

* * *

 

**Meanwhile, at Mitsuki's house**

He was tired.  
The Chūnin Exam turned out to be quite a challenge, but as always, he managed.  
He almost killed a Kiri ninja in the last round, but surrendered before he could get the chance to. The biggest issue was the second round, where his team almost lost a scroll. Surprisingly, their teamwork was better than ever.

They made it as chūnin. After all those days, Team Hiruzen deserved to sleep comfortably and fully satisfied of themselves in their own beds.

...Just to wake up to the feeling of fresh grass against their skin.  
  
"What in the world...?" he whispered. He felt a familiar hand into his. As he got up to look around, he realized it was Tsunade's, who was sleeping soundly, fact that made his face turn in a light shade of pink.  
Nothing made sense.  
He was in the garden of a house that was strange to him. Although, its style resembled his taste somehow. It all looked a lot more futuristic than the Konoha he remembered. Even more: why was he elsewhere than is room, holding Tsunade's hand?   
Orochimaru noticed two men entering the yard. Both were very tall. One appeared to be an Uchiha while the one on his right was blonde and had whiskers markings on his cheeks. For a reason, they went straight to him, and he couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy.

"Speak up, Orochimaru," demanded the brunet adult. Orochimaru's first impression was to frown, yet he decided to keep his usual neutral face on.  
"I never thought that I'd ever be such an outstanding kid that an Uchiha would bother to remember my name. Shameful of me that I have no idea who you might be," he said in a fake self-pitying tone. Much to his expectations, the two of them got angrier. He had no idea why, though, besides the fact that he knew he appeared to be an eyesore with that behaviour.  
"Now don't you dare lie to us, spit it out- wait, first, why do you look like a damn child?!" all three of them were now in blur. Even Sasuke failed to notice it at first, but Orochimaru was actually in his kid form. He, on the other hand, did not understand why he's been asked such a question. He was 12 years old the day before and will be till the next 27th of October.   
"You are clearly mistaking me. I am Orochimaru, 12, and officially became a chūnin yesterday along with my two teammates, Tsunade-Hime sleeping over there and Jiraiya," Naruto and Sasuke exchanged curious looks, to which Orochimaru rolled his eyes.  
"Come on, everyone in Konoha heard him at least a hundred times bragging about his potential, his desires and dreams-"

"A-ha, so it worked! I never imagined that the jutsu would actually include you and Tsunade, I must be a genius and therefore, I surpassed you!"  
The albino came out of the house, to everyone's surprise. Orochimaru squinted his eyes, giving him a questioning look. Nothing made sense at that point.  
"Jiraiya, look, I don't even know why you're so obsessed with being so much better than me when we are working together anyway and not to mention that our training methods and morals are different," the brunet sighed, "Well, nevermind that, I guess. What did you do?"  
The boy grinned at the three of them, making Orochimaru a bit nervous. It was clear that Jiraiya was up to no good.

"Isn't it obvious, Orochi? I performed a jutsu that sent us years in the future! As I am the performer, my consciousness split in two and now I am present in both timelines! Too bad for you and Tsunade, but it's worth it; I can get to see how awesome I turned out to be!" Maybe it was just bad luck that Tsunade woke up exactly when he started speaking. As Orochimaru was clearly mad, he decided not to tell him about the blonde who came with full speed at Jiraiya, that sent him flying right into the Seventh Hokage.

"Jiraiya! You are _so_ going to pay for this!"


	5. An In-Depth of the Sannin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This came out.... a lot later than I expected .-.  
> I am really sorry people but I was on holiday and I didn't exactly have the time to write a long, proper chapter  
> I will do my best that the next chapter will be longer and a lot more things will happen (and come out sooner)  
> Enjoy!

It took Naruto some time to proceed the sight of a very young Team Hiruzen, Jiraiya’s words and how he actually got sent flying by a 12 year old Tsunade. Even Sasuke was shocked by the events that took place in 3 minutes.  
Tsunade and Orochimaru weren’t far from that, either. Looking around even more, they started to realize how bad it could be. As the Hokage rock indicated, there were not three, but seven. Just how far did they get?

Staring speechless at the monument, they did not notice Jiraiya joining them, only when he pointed out something that the other two failed to notice:  
“Is it just me or that woman looks like Tsunade? Hey, Orochimaru, looks like you’re the only one that didn’t get what he wanted in the future.”  
The brunet rolled his eyes.  
“Where is the proof that you got to become a great ninja?”  
The adults wanted to interfere, but waited for Jiraiya’s answer. They were just curious to see if he knew more than they thought, even though it appeared that he just appeared in their timeline.  
“Dumb Orochi! I am the great Jiraiya, it’s only obvious that I would become famous and renouned for my talents!”  
In that very moment, both of his teammates grabbed his collar, full of anger. Normally, they would just put up with his dumb mistakes, but this one was very serious. Also, they were kind of sick of just forgiving him.  
“Look here, you idiot! Unless your toads will be able to make us jump back to our version of present time, I will-“ Tsunade wanted to continue, but all of them were parted by The Uzumaki and the Uchiha.  
“That is enough,” said Sasuke calmly. “Let’s go inside and discuss some more, like civilized people. I’ll have you know that all three of you became responsible and very skilled Jounin, so if you were to go out in public, people would have expectations.”  
“But mister ‘I look like the second protagonist that was once filled with the dream of vengeance and also resembles Orochimaru more and less’, I suppose we are very old by now, so going out is not even relevant; I am the only one who can perform Hange no Jutsu for more than one hour.”  
Trying to ignore Tsunade’s words that almost hit a spot, he and Naruto showed their way in. It was rather strange, since it wasn’t their home, but Orochimaru’s kid. Giving them cloaks so they could get to the Hokage office would’ve drown too much attention upon them.

No one really bothered to check Mitsuki’s house; after all, he came to Konoha because he decided to walk a path different of his father. Yet, it was a bit odd seeing photos of the child and of his parent in the hallway being so… happy together. There were also some with Suigetsu and the other two members of the Taka team. Obviously, Log did not miss from some. Were they really a family, after all?  
A smile appeared on the Hokage’s face once he noticed that tons of photo with his team were all over his living room’s walls. It reminded him how united they were and how they really looked out for each other.  
The young Sannin noticed all the pictures but they didn’t dare to say a word about them, not even Jiraiya. Orochimaru was smiling and even grinning largely in some photos which was really out of his character. It was also interesting how the man looked so young, when they had to be old at that time. Plus, they deduced that all of them were taken recently; they were in a house in which the boy with blue hair appeared to live and he was clearly not older than 12. And what was Orochimaru to him?

They sat down in the living room on the couch, waiting for Jiraiya to be questioned. But it looked like he had to speak freely.  
“Soooo… let’s say I went after the yesterday’s Chuunin Exams to the Zeroth Training Ground that finally became a natural preserve. There, I found an interesting scroll of time travel. The instructions were not clear but it said that the user’s conscious would split in two or something; There will be a me in my present time that has no idea what happens to me that is here, in the future. After I come back, just like the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, the other me will gain the memories I accumulated here. I think Orochi and Tsuna got dragged in because I performed it behind the Ramen bar and the cook was gone in the meantime. It was written in the scroll how to go back but then again it said that only the other me will remember it. I took the risk because I never thought it would work, it sounded childish!”  
They just stared at him, not knowing what to say.   
In his mind, Orochimaru tried to make a pattern from what he knew. Somehow, it was not completely senseless.   
“You’re Lord Seventh if I am correct,” he addressed to the blond.  
“Yes, that would be me.”  
“You and the Uchiha said something about the disappearance of your kids, and how I could have something to do with it. It means that future me was here, maybe right in the place where I woke up. But this would also mean that future Tsunade was here yesterday. Did your children have a sleepover here, at the kid with blue hair?”  
The two men were rather impressed by his power of deduction. They nodded.  
“So this means that future Jiraiya was in their room,” that came out worse than he expected, resulting in Tsunade ready to punch the albino.  
“Okay, okay, I might be some kind of pervert but I would not become a damn pedophile, really!!” he cried out.   
After some more seconds of thinking, Orochimaru asked Jiraiya to lead them to the room he woke up in. There were the kids’ bags and certificates of Chuunin. Just as the long haired brunet expected, there was a scroll on the bed. He gave it to Jiraiya, who started at it for good minutes, but in the end he realized it just wasn’t the one he used. Actually, all he understood were the hand seals; everything else was written in old Chinese. Orochimaru was the only one studying it so he too it back and started inspecting it.

“This is also a time travel jutsu that is written in here. I can tell for sure that it sends the ones affected by it in the past. Everything here is so vague, though. I can’t bring myself to realize who would dare perform this technique, even if the person knew Chinese. It can cost a life.”  
Orochimaru’s words just made the atmosphere even gloomier. It was only obvious that Boruto could do it; they did not suspect Sarada as she was wiser and Mitsuki, well, he already knew everything he needed.

They were with Orochimaru and it was not cool. The thought of what he could do to them only made their minds boil and even show their anger towards the younger version of him, even though he had nothing to do with anything. Their kids’ lives were at stake, and at that point, they couldn’t even be mad at Boruto for being reckless; he was just a curious thing who wanted to know more than “your dad had nothing and now he is the best” or “Uncle Sasuke has always been something else”. In the end, they could only blame themselves.

“Now, now, you obnoxiously-looking Hokage and angsty-looking friend of his, are you going to let my stupid friend of mine bring you down with his negative perspective?” Orochimaru glared at Tsunade, but she only stuck her tongue out. “My point is that your kids are not alone. That pale kid seems to be close to Orochi but to his team, as well. I think Orochimaru would not hurt or abandon anyone in these circumstances. You also forget that there’s also me! As the Fifth Hokage, I would make sure everyone gets home safe, I cannot doubt that!” The blonde’s words sounded so reassuring.   
“Don’t forget about me-“ Jiraiya wanted to interfere, but his two teammates glared at him. It was better for him to shut up.

This situation didn’t just affect the Sannin and Team Konohamaru, but many other people.   
Hinata was impatiently home with Himawari for Naruto to come back with their son. Sakura was excessively checking her patients, as she couldn’t just sit down and wait to be notified that Sarada just overslept and not kidnapped or something. Tsunade did not show up at the hospital, which was odd. Konohamaru had no idea where those three could be; they had a mission planned. Shizone called her master excessively but she was permanently redirected to the voice mail.

Suigetsu, Log and Juugo could barely keep up with the lab work, even if Orochimaru was “late” with just an hour or two. Log, however, was more concerned that his little brother did not send any message since the other day. He guessed that he was busy celebrating but now?  
Theoretically, he was never registered as a ninja or as a villager. Going to Konoha without any acts would’ve been illegal, buy would it matter when you know nothing about your family?

Suigetsu saw his worried face, so he talked him out of it.  
“Chill out, man. If something would’ve happened, we would’ve _seen_ it from here. Who cares if he’s late or not coming today? It’s hard but we can handle it. We will just call Karin.”  
That was enough to make the older Mitsuki stop from overthinking.  
They would be fine. He trusted them.

 

* * *

 

That free week passed harder than any before. The amount of times Jiraiya just bursted in Orochimaru’s house when the four of them were simply not prepared was huge. But he preferred being discovered by the albino than ANBU, for example, or Hiruzen.  
As much as Tsunade wanted to stay with them and make sure they don’t do anything wrong, she couldn’t. While it was true that she and Orochimaru were like best friends and spent a lot of time together, they never visited each other for more than two hours or daily. After all, Orochimaru has always been a cold person and an introvert as a kid.

The Sannin’s relationship with Team Konohamaru could not be defined by any word at all. He and Mitsuki got along pretty well, as their personalities were quite similar. The main difference was the blue haired chuunin’s positivity and bright perspective.  
Sarada wanted to prove herself that she is capable of escaping any situation. So she tried linking all the info she had so she could find a way back. Unfortunately, she never succeeded at all. That kind of stubbornness reminded Orochimaru of young Sasuke. He couldn’t tell if it was a good thing or it pissed him off, as that ambition kept them going on but at the same time they kept on stumbling over their obvious mistakes.  
There was no questioning in Boruto’s case, though. No matter what happened of what kind of conversation they had, the blond just _had_ to disagree with everyone else. The boy was stepping on his nerves, and he could barely shut up and not make him shut up. Fortunately, Mitsuki has always been there to stop him from reacting in any way. The worst part of it is that none of them knew when they would return home. None of them said a word about it, but they missed their families.  
Sarada just wanted to tell her parents once again how great she did in the Exams and how much she loved and appreciated them. Same for Boruto, who also looked forward to share his experience with Himawari, as she looked up to her brother. Orochimaru thought of the lab and how many things could happen in his absence. Mitsuki just wanted to sign up for his training as a medic nin. He didn’t tell his father yet and he wouldn’t dare ask Tsunade when they had bigger issues, such as being stuck in the past.

Despite all the discomfort, Oorchimaru felt... better. The house was no longer hollow, and whenever he went out for groceries or to gather some information on the scroll (that was never successful at all), Mitsuki would have the meal ready for his return. Even the other two could be considered okay. Each time he saw the three of them together, he would remember of when he was their age, all those great times the comfort of his parents was replaced with Tsunade's and Jiraiya's tight hugs and words of comfort.  
These days, he asked himself a question he never thought he ever would.  
 _Why did I abandon them?_

* * *

 

The Fifth Hokage has always been defined as a strong, inspiring and independent woman. Almost every kunoichi in Konoha, and not only, had her as an example. But how was that going to help her, when she was powerless. Her current situation got her hands cuffed and a hand was pushing her to the ground.

 _Fake a smile, like Nawaki would still be alive and will make it through._  
Fake a smile, like Jiraiya would have a brighter future.  
Fake a smile, like Sensei won’t have to sacrifice himself for that traitor.  
Fake a smile, like Orochimaru stayed by the team’s side till the end.

Bad reasoning, very, very bad reasoning. Nothing went as she wanted and as much as she wished to change it, Tsunade knew it was impossible.

Lying in her bed, she was trapped in her own thoughts, till an obnoxious scream disturbed her.  
“Tsunade! Good thing you are home!”  
It was Jiraiya, who showed up at her window. Normally, she would kick him hard, but she lacked the energy.  
“Oh. Come in if you want to.”  
Well, _that_ was new. Confused, he carefully made his way in (as normally as possible since he came by the window) and sat on the floor. Minutes of silence passed and Jiraiya kept on looking at Tsunade, while the girl stared at her ceiling, trying to empty her mind. Jiraiya was not sure just what was going on with her, but he was sure that was not very Tsunade-like. After some time, he mustered up the nerve to begin a conversation with the girl.   
“I would say you spent too much time with Orochimaru; you’re so silent,” he tried to sound funny. That only triggered her to remember all the times he hung out with Orochimaru after they made up. Not that it happened frequent, but it was without Jiraiya. And it hurt.  
“You have no idea,” she thought. Jiraiya still did not get any reply, though.  
“Tsuna, look. Whatever happened, I am not going to question it. I know you will tell me eventually. But if you need help, I am here, just like everyone else you know. For as long as we are capable of, me, Orochimaru, Sensei, you family and the whole village will support you. Just trust us a little bit, alright? You are not alone, never.”

That was Jiraiya alright. Yes, he was a pervert and had the worst jokes possible, but he still cared for everyone around him. It was only natural that he would try and make her feel better. Tsunade got off the bed and smiled to him. He wanted to continue but got interrupted right away, as she hugged him, and thanked him as joyful as she could in her current state.

The boy was right; she was not alone. And therefore, she wouldn’t have to worry that much. Her mind was set on telling him, along with Orochimaru, the truth. It was the best way; hiding wouldn’t be helpful. Then, they would eventually tell Hiruzen and would make it back safe.

_Put on a genuine smile because you will succeed._


	6. Posing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!  
> I loved writing this chapter; it also turned out to be longer but that was also expected; I really needed to make the future world up to date so from now on, the actions will be parallel (I hope you get me)  
> Also when there will be a bar it means that there will be a transition from a world to another (starting from the next chapter).  
> I am taking free Naruto OC Requests! You can go and check it out, I have the same username on deviantArt  
> Enjoy!

“Now, what are we going to do?” asked the Uchiha.  
All of them tried to think of a solution, but ideas barely popped up in their heads. While it was true that being honest would’ve made everything easier, Sasuke and Naruto wouldn’t let rumours flying around about their kids going missing as a result from their possible irresponsibility (fact that they wouldn’t deny to theirselves). And was it even safe to tell those kids about their future? How the most talented of them became the most feared rogue nin, how the girl lost almost everyone and how the loser ended up as a tragic hero? They needed some time to think that.

Orochimaru had everyone’s attention, once he snapped his fingers.  
“I have an idea.” All eyes were set on him, as they all hoped for him to come up with something that would save them. “One thing is certain; we can’t go by as our future selves. Transformation Jutsu can take a lot of chakra for a long period of time and the only one who can control it reasonably is Tsunade.”  
“You’re right,” added Tsunade, “and I suppose we don’t have yet the skills to be doing, well, whatever we’re doing now.”  
“That’s exactly my point. So, why don’t we pose as the kids that went missing? If I have enough materials, such as makeup and wigs, I think we can pull this off. But what do we do with ‘ourselves’?” It was enough that they could actually cover more than half of the situation up. Knowing how easily Orochimaru could infiltrate in Konoha by disguising himself, that plan was not going to be a problem. Even if he probably wasn’t as skilled as his adult version, they really hoped for the best. Besides, Tsunade, Sakura and Sarada kind of resembled.

“But why would the Sannin be questioned? Sure, maybe Tsunade works at the hospital, Orochimaru is…,” he squinted his eyes at him, trying to guess what exactly would do for a living, but failed, “well, whatever snakes do, and I sure as hell would be retired if I am older than 65! Maybe the two of you as well!” It was only painful to Naruto as he heard his sensei speaking like he was still alive, that he achieved all he ever wanted. He really wanted to tell them the truth, how Jiraiya died long ago and how you can’t just ‘not question the Sannin’, since one of them was Orochimaru.

“Alright then, your plans don’t sound half bad. Naruto, I will talk to Shikamaru to take over today for you. Karin is the only person we can trust to tell the truth, besides Sakura and Hinata. I’ll be paying her a visit and hopefully she will provide me some materials. You stay with them and take care of everything.”  
Naruto nodded, and his friend left in no time.

“You might tell us a thing or two about these kids, so we can pose as them as good as possible,” demanded the blonde, “you can start with that brunette, she seems really nice!’ _I wonder why,_ thought Naruto ironically, “also, you don’t really introduced yourselves at all.”  
“I am Naruto Uzumaki, The Seventh Hokage of Konoha! The man that just left s called Sasuke Uchiha and he’s my best friend! Just like you, we were on a team of three with Sakura-chan, who married him. By the way, she was one of your students!” Tsunade’s eyes were practically glowing at that point. She became cool and strong enough that other people would even ask her for training. And she even made it as a Hokage! It wasn’t exactly her dream, but it’s not like she minded. In her mind, it was even better than finally winning at gambling.  
“Their daughter is the one you referred to, Sarada Uchiha and she really looks up to you, just as much as she looks up to her parents. She is very strong and is aiming to become Hokage one day. I personally believe that she will make it.”  
“I am totally posing as her! I don’t think I’ll have to try that hard.”  
“I suppose the blond is your son, am I right?” interfered Jiraiya, “and who did I train? Come on, I must’ve become cooler as years passed by!”  
The Uzumaki took a deep breath. This one was going to be hard for him, but he was going to handle it as a responsible adult. Yet, the thought of looking him in the eyes only half of the truth seemed impossible.

“Well, among some other people, you happened to train me and even my father!” he said, with a large grin that almost seemed awkward, “and yes, that boy is my son, Boruto Uzumaki, but unlike me, he really doesn’t want to follow the Hokage path. Though, he is all about supporting Sarada!”  
Jiraiya looked thoughtful for a half a minute or so, but in the end, he smiled largely.  
“Looks like I am not half bad, either! One of my students to become Hokage, well that’s something to be proud of! If that has always been your dream, then even from another period of time, I, as your sensei, have to congratulate you!”  
Naruto could only recall the day he received the news of Jiraiya’s death. That man marked an important part of his life and existence, and he only had the option of accepting it and move on. But that man was not going to be there when he would achieve his dream. He wouldn’t see him becoming Hokage, he wouldn’t be proven wrong about Sasuke and he wouldn’t see his student with an actual family of his own.  
Yet, time passed, and Naruto achieved all those things and maybe even more. The male never got to share those moments with his sensei, but finally, there he was, finally being happy for him, for accomplishing the dream Naruto chased and worked hard on.  
“Thank you, Pervy Sage,” he let these words slip subconsciously through his mouth.  
“So he stayed a pervert all this time?!” asked Tsunade loudly.  
“Wait a minute, you said SAGE?!”  
Aaand a simple nickname had a huge effect.  
“Well, yeah, but you worked really hard!”  
“I bet I did!” Jiraiya was overjoyed and probably the happiest person on Earth. It was a relief to know that in the end he was not a loser, like some people strongly believe. Not to mention that he didn’t miss the chance to show off at the exams. “But what about the other kid?”

Oh boy, now he really couldn’t hide much.

“Only if you won’t scream,” sighed the Hokage. Orochimaru grabbed a pillow, just in case  
“So… how do I put this… he is,” Naruto was trying to make as many pauses as possible, hoping that maybe, just maybe, someone would come and interrupt him. Discretely he looked at the window, just to see strangers passing by. He was doomed alright. “Okay, I will be straight forward: Mitsuki is Orochimaru’s son but he was not given birth to, he is a synthetic human that in the end is no different to me, or him, or any other person,” the brunet widened his eyes more and more, as the Hokage kept on talking, “he wants to be, and is, very independent of you, yet he respects and loves you more than anyone could imagine. I believe that the Orochimaru I know does the same.”  
The kids were speechless. It was no secret that the boy wanted a family of his own, since he didn’t get to spend enough time with his parents, but he has always been icy and distant. It almost seemed out of character for him to care for someone that much. But the Hokage was clearly not lying. Even more shocking was that he was the only one among the three of them with a child. Not that Jiraiya was the kind of person who would be in a serious relationship and Tsunade never really expressed her wishes or expectations in that direction.  
Before he could speak again, Orochimaru stuttered a few times, not being able to make himself understood. That caused his teammates to look in his direction. Not wanting to look that awkward in front of them, finally addressed himself to the Uzumaki:  
“So, this Mitsuki, my son, is 12 years old right now?”  
“Correct.”  
“And all these photos of me and him, were taken recently? At 70 years old, I look _that_ young?”  
Naruto was in the danger zone again. _Well, you became a rogue nin for that;_ nope, totally not the best explication, even though it was the truth. _Think, Naruto, think!_

Someone opened the front door and walked in the room. Without thinking or paying attention, the blond obnoxiously greeted:  
“Sasuke, you were so fast-“ but when he finally realized that the said person was in fact, not Sasuke, he only shot his eyes wide open, not knowing what to say.  
They grey haired man moved his eyes from Naruto to the three kids, and then back at Lord Seventh, full of shock and confusion.  
“Kabuto, what bring you here?” Naruto asked that question, trying to avoid the “elephant in the room”.  
“Good to see you, Lord Seventh. I was called here today by Orochimaru-sama to discuss training with Mitsuki,” this time, his gaze moved on Orochimaru’s eyes, “but I think the situation had a twist.”  
“It’s quite a funny story-“  
“I deeply hope that Mitsuki and his friends just pulled out the best cosplay group.”  
“What’s ‘cosplay’ and why do you look like my and Orochi’s love child?” Jiraiya found himself asking.  
“This is not a cosplay thing,” Kabuto answered himself.

Naruto explained the Sage the whole situation. He believed it right away, since nothing really surprised him. Kabuto himself was able to bring a whole army of dead people back to life, spy on the infamous criminal organization he and his master were once part of, more or less and the list went on. Time travel did not seem that exaggerated, since time-space and teleportation techniques existed. He agreed to help them in covering team Hiruzen and in the end, he took ‘custody’ over them, as Naruto had to go to the office. He also promised he would ask someone properly to take over for Kabuto at the orphanage.  
It was going to be hard for him. Not because he had to cope with Orochimaru and that it would be triggering; in fact, even after Kabuto left Otogakure, they would always help each other if they really needed. Also he was going to train his son. It was going to be a challenging ‘mission’ because from what he knew, the three of them, when they were not fighting each other, they would be strong as one. So if they, by any chance, did not like what he would tell them to do, Hell would break loose. Rumour has it that no team has ever surpassed them. Their teamwork has always been flawless and efficient. Together, they survived any foe.

They went to the forest, so they could safely discuss and not risk to be seen by anyone.  
“Until Sasuke comes back, we will be staying here and I will take care of you,” he stopped right away as he could feel Jiraiya looking at him way too insisting, “Is there anything wrong, Jiraiya?”  
“Hell yes! You seriously look like me and snake eyes banged and you even know my name!” Breathing in and out, he answered as calm as possible.  
“A lot of people have white and grey hair, it’s not someone’s special trait. And of course I know your name, everyone does!” Kabuto felt relieved, seeing the boy grinning.  
“Are we, by any chance, related?”  
A slight smile formed on the sage’s face. “Not at all. But just think of me as your junior, your brother."

Not really understanding the man, Orochimaru shrugged and stayed silent, as his friends kept on asking Kabuto all sorts of questions, which he obviously dodged carefully.

If we was not going to get a proper answer, he would research everything himself, eventually.

 

**Later that day, in the afternoon**

Because Sasuke did not return as fast as Naruto thought, the Hokage asked Kabuto to bring them to his house. He had enough time to explain the situation to Hinata. Somehow, Himawari overheard them and much to their surprise, she just sighed, noting that it would be “so onii-chan” of Boruto to do such thing out of curiosity. Hinata told her very clearly not to tell grandpa Jiraiya that he was no longer with them or that Mitsuki’s papa is a creep.

The five of them were in the Uzumaki house. The members of team Hiruzen were immediately fascinated by Himawari’s cuteness and way of being. She was very polite and looked very enthusiastic as she met “The Legendary Sannin before their glory”. They were playing Monopoly. It took some time for the 10 year old to explain them how the currency of the money worked and what the pioneers were for, but fortunately they figured it out as the game went on. Hinata was talking on the phone with Sakura, as she was still a bit anxious regarding everything. The medic attempted to calm her down, repeatedly reminding the ex-Hyuga about Tsunade being with their kids. On the other hand, that was not the best thing that could happen to Sakura; she had to cover up for her, too. It all looked unusually busy at the hospital now that she was gone.

“I can’t believe that each time I roll the dice, I get to step on any property but mine or on an unsold one!” cried out Tsunade, “It’s not even that much of a gambling game!”  
“Don’t worry, Tsunade-baa-chan, my Onii-chan would do even worse than you,” responded Himawari, grinning, “And I bet Jiraiya-jii-chan is doing even worse than you!”  
Trying not to look desperate as he counted the little money he had, Jiraiya tried to change the subject: “Don’t call us like that, Hima-chan. We’re just 2 years away!”  
They were all distracted by someone who was knocking at the door. They hurried to the entrance, but Hinata already opened the door. It was Sasuke, carrying a bag, and near him a woman with obnoxiously red hair that was shaved on her left side. She wore glasses like Sarada, only that they were brown.

“Aunt Karin! Uncle Sasuke!” shouted Himawari. She ran towards them, hugging each.  
“I don’t understand; I thought he was married to a woman called Sakura,” whispered Tsunade to her friends.  
“She’s probably a blood relative of Himawari. This family has the last name ‘Uzumaki’ and this Karin has red hair, like you grandma Mito,” said Orochimaru.  
“Good point!”

“Karin, what brings you in Konoha?” asked Hinata kindly.  
“With Tsunade gone and all this ‘time travel’ thing, I figured I could at least lend some people a hand. I can’t let Sakura handle everything by herself, as the other main medic is gone. Plus, I bet those three can turn into troublemakers anytime.”

Hinata invited them in. Karin properly introduced herself to the time travelers and handed them the wigs and lenses they needed, but only after Karin applied to each of them makeup, so their skin tone would resemble Sarada, Boruto, and Mitsuki. In the end, she had to help them with the wigs as well, since they seemed to have some problems. The hardest part was doing Orochimaru’s and Jiraiya’s eyes, since those looked nothing like Mitsuki’s or Boruto’s. The albino had to sneeze 5 times and complain about the makeup tickling him, almost ruining Karin’s work few times.

The outcome, was, without a doubt, flawless. Karin herself didn’t think that she could pull that off in such manner, so she couldn’t help herself but smile. Everyone complimented on her work and the kids were now admiring themselves.  
Hinata came to them with photos of different people, and started presenting each to the new team Konohamaru.  
“This is you sensei, Konohamaru Sarutobi,” it was their photo group, and she pointed at the tallest one this the picture, “here is team Moegi; she is the sensei. The girl with that kind of white outwear is ChouChou, Sarada’s best friend. The brunet boy is Shiakadai, and the blond is Inojin. The three of you are good friends with them.” The woman the moved onto another picture, of a boy with very thick brows in a green jumpsuit. “This is Metal Lee. You are not that close to him, but it’s better if you learn his name as well.” Sasuke handed each of them a set of even more photos, containing adults and superiors, and how they should address them.

“You’d better learn them. We don’t really look for troubles.”  
The amount of names and the thought of remembering all of them scared Jiraiya. He prayed that Orochimaru would always speak first and so he would only have to say what he said.  
“Sure, thing!” replied Tsunade. “But now, Sasuke-san, or should I say, _papa,_ I am your precious daughter,” Sasuke did not like where the discussion was going,” I need pocket money-“  
“No,” he cut in short.  
“But why?!”  
“The whole world knows you bad habit of going gambling and lose every time.”  
Karin took out some money from her purse and handed them to Orochimaru, shocking everyone.  
“Karin-“  
“Don’t worry, Sasuke. It’s Orochimaru’s money,” all their faces dropped. Jiraiya started laughing while Oro started checking himself. “How?!”  
“It’s from Orochimaru of this era. I’ve been working as a medic for you since I was 15 and one of your researching lab is mine. Besides, some thousands of yen for your dear friends won’t bother any version of you, I bet you’re hungry.”  
He wanted to roll his eyes, but the redhead Uzumaki grabbed him by his blue kimono, which belonged to his son.  
“For starters, Mitsuki is not an asshole and knows to appreciate what he has. He’s also a very joyful person. I am not afraid to go against you if you ruin his image or even chances to the future he wants; the future you knows best.”  
Tsunade did not like how Karin acted, but she sure was a scary woman. Even Orochimaru had his eyes widened at her sight.  
“Karin, I think it’s enough,” Sasuke looked at her. She had to understand that after all, he was not _that_ Orochimaru. After some brief seconds, the woman finally let go of him. “Fine.”  
Karin turned around and prepared to make her leave.  
“I am off to the hospital. Everyone, just take care,” and so she was gone, leaving everyone in silence for some time.

. . .

Orochimaru, Tsunade and Jiraiya decided to go out for some ramen. Hinata offered to cook for them but they needed to be alone for some time. It was too much interaction with strangers for one day. They were happy they made it to the restaurant without encountering any “friends” or people from that whole stack of photos.

“The food is sure better in the future!” said ‘Boruto’, “Not that mom’s ramen isn’t delicious!”  
“Honestly I am glad I don’t have to cook for myself for a period of time,” confessed Orochimaru.  
Tsunade stared sadly in the bowl of food, looking at her ‘own’ refleciton, or better said, Sarada’s. Jiraiya basically teleported them from a world where war always awaited them to a peaceful future, where apparently the three of them grew old together.  
“Is it… alright for us to have a good time?”  
The boys turned to her, finally noticing the lack of life in her eyes.  
“It all seems nice here, and I am glad we get the chance to see a piece of a world where peace if finally achieved, but something seems… off.”  
Jiraiya gave her words a bit of thought before answering. She was perfectly right about it.  
“Remember that this is not actually where we belong to. Yes, it’s a beautiful world, but we have to face it; ours is nothing like that. It’s cruel and unpredictable. But we can change it!” both Tsunade and Orochimaru looked surprised at him. He… made sense for once.  
“Just think about it! Orochi, you said that peace is not achievable, but here we are! It’s true that we are still young, but if we ask these people about what they’ve been through and what we’ve been through, maybe it will all turn to better! Honestly, I am not yet sure on how we can change our world, but I am certain that now, nothing is impossible, and I am allowed to hope. I just… need the two of you. I probably made a mistake using that scroll without asking sensei, but I believe that this is the destiny. Tsunade, we did not get here to necessarily have a great time and feel comfortable or unafraid, but to travel and do something good for our families, friends, village, or even the whole shinobi world.”

That scroll must’ve accelerated Jiraiya’s brain activity, because otherwise he couldn’t explain himself who he could be logical and convince him into taking part of his new idea that sounded way too idealistic for his taste of beliefs. He wanted to deny the possibility of world peace, but in the end, why would he do so? It would only be in everyone’s advantage. The countries would all be richer, kids would have the proper education and there would be no need for money to be spent on the (collateral) damage.  
It sounded like a stupid dream world, but there he was, within it, and it was more real than he could ever imagine.  
“I’m in,” said Tsunade, full of determination. The girl and the toad summoner had now their looks onto Orochimaru, waiting for his answer, anxiously. He sure was hesitant.

“You’d better lead us on a right path, Jiraiya.”  
Happy with his response, they pulled him into a group hug over the table, carefully avoiding the bowls of food on it. They all grinned, glad that they could agree on something serious. They were the Hokage’s team and they were not going to disappoint anyone, including themselves.

“But first, let’s take a week off,” demanded Jiraiya.  
“What?!” shouted Tsunade and Orochimaru, “We haven’t even started yet and you want to do nothing for seven days?!”  
“Tsuna, Orochi, my naïve friends, let me explain; if we go out too much to the library or start asking too many questions, like we did today, they will not help us at all. It’s called the art of infiltration; we blend in and then we can do what we have to, without being questioned. Plus, we need to learn all those people’s names.”  
Once again, the other two could not argue at all.

 

**After a week…**

They stayed in Mitsuki’s house with Karin; the idea of being separated did not sound appealing and as Karin herself never thought of where she would stay in Konoha, that was the most efficient solution. The kids kindly asked Konohamaru to give them a week off, because they had to rest after the Exams. And so, they had enough time getting accustomed to their new lives.

After Karin once again helped them set up for another day, the three of the got out of the house, watching the sky full of hope.  
“Let’s do this,” demanded the albino.  
His teammates nodded. Side by side, they started walking to the training grounds, ready for their first day of training with Konohamaru sensei and their first day of researching.

* * *

**The Past**

 

"Absolutely not, Tsunade!" said Orochimaru, coldly.  
"Why not? Maybe if we tell someone about what happened, we can get help-"  
"No one will take their time to listen!"  
"Not if you act like this!"   
The two Sannin were in Orochimaru's garden. The negative atmosphere and unpleasant sound made the other three chuunin come and see what the hell was going on. Seeing that they were angry and so concentrated on each other, they just wished that everything could miraculously be fixed. None of them were even sure why those two were fighting in the first place. All they could do was to sit still and catch on as the conversation went on.

“Can’t you understand that once, no, actually that _finally,_ you are no longer alone?!”  
“You’re just teaming up with me because you wanna go back, and nothing more!” Those words hurt the blonde. That was not true. Why did he have to believe that? She won’t reject him after everything would be back to normal. And as her thoughts progressed, she realised something she forgot for some time: he was never rejected by anyone, but rather he rejected the world and the reality. He got lost in his journey to the impossible, that anything that went against his desires and ideas was automatically classified as the enemy.

Yet, it couldn’t be helped. She had her side of story and he had his. Both of them were subjective and there was no way they could convince each other that one of them was right or wrong.  
“Whatever I say, it won’t change your vision, right? So long with Orochimaru being rational and actually think of what Mitsuki has to say, for example!”  
“Don’t you dare drag my family into this!”  
She felt excluded. Since when she was not family?

It was probably too late to think rational. Tsunade came at him speeding, with her fist that was surrounded by chakra. It was clear that if she were to hit him, it would break his jaw for good. But the boy was not just going to stand. He had the tip of Kusanagi in his teeth, ready to slash her. He was not going to kill her, but his intention was to stop her from moving. It was a matter of time; who was going to be faster. They kept on glaring at each other, almost hatefully.

“Not so soon you two! Shannaro!”  
Right before they could hit their target, Sarada successfully made her way between them. With a hand, she got a grab of Tsunade’s wrist and making her roll in mid-air. As soon as she landed on the ground, Boruto tied her hand at the back with a rope Sarada gave to him. The Uchiha stopped Orochimaru by hitting his nape with the side of her palm. As he hit his chin on the ground, he let out the Kusanagi even more, allowing Mitsuki to take it from him. He had a snake keep his parent’s hands tied together while he swallowed the legendary sword. The Sannin were shocked by how the three of the acted.

“How do you think we can solve something if you two are actually planning on jumping at each other’s throats?! You two are the adults, you should tell us what we are doing wrong and take care of us. But let me guess, no one asked you to do so in the first place, right? Then we, the youngsters, will teach you some stuff! Lesson number one, a team stays a team and all the disputes we have, we will solve them like responsible and mature people,” Sarada’s words reached out to all of them, making the adults feel frustrated. Once again, the Sannin were lectured by some kids and once again, they were proven that they were really turning into some old hags.

“Let’s just talk and figure this out together-“  
“Orochimaru!”

The five of them turned to the entrance of the garden to see the twelve year old albino waiting to be greeted back. But as soon as he saw his two friends restrained, his first instinct was to scream.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. In my fanfics, Himawari is always 2 years younger than her brother.  
> 2\. I believe that just like his father, Mitsuki can swallow stuff and either keep them sealed inside him.  
> 3\. Even though it was never mentioned what happened to The Sowrd of Kusanagi, I stand with the idea that Orochimaru still owns it. If someone proves me otherwise, I aplogise and thanks in advance for correcting me, but I won't be able to change this detail I guess  
> Feedback of any kind is very much appreciated!


End file.
